Leicestershire Historian Volume 4 No 4 1996 Published by the Leicestershire Archaeological & Historical Society The Leicestershire Historian is alive! n December 1995 the Leicestershire Local History Council (LLHC) I decided to wind up its activities. The Council was, however, anxious to see its annual publication, the Leicestershire Historian, continue to be published if at all possible. The Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society (LAHS) at about the same time was considering making one of its Newsletters more substantial. These two events have led the Society to agree to publish the Leicestershire Historian. It will be available free to all members of the Society. The LAHS has agreed to provide a free copy of the 1996 volume to all who were members of the LLHC when it ceased to exist and have indicated their wish to receive a copy. e hope that former members of the LLHC will in due course Wdecide to join the LAHS. For a subscription of £12 a year mem­ bers receive two respected local publications, The Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological Society (TLAHS) and the Leicestershire Historian. The TLAHS has been published by the Society since the1860s and is an invaluable source of information about the county's past. The Society is currently having produced a cumulative index of Transactions and when this is done it will be easier to use Transactions for research. In what form the index will be pub­ lished has hot been decided, but members of the Society will be given preferential rates when the index is sold. n addition to the publications mentioned above the Society puts on a I lecture programme between October and May each year. Currently these lectures are held at the Rowans in College Street, Leicester, where there is ample parking on the premises. Once a year a Saturday day school is held dealing with archaeological fieldwork which has taken place in the previous year. The Society is also looking into the possibility of arranging a day school on local history topics. he Society also has an extensive library which is housed at the TGuildhall in Leicester. It is open to members on the first and third Sunday of each month between 2.00 and 4.00 pm, and on the second Tuesday between 12.00 and 2.00 pm. The Library is closed on public holidays. Books can be borrowed by members and a complete run of Transactions consulted at the Guildhall. Alan A/l^Whirr, HonorarM 5? PovfeJab Road, l&o&fcf, ll ZPN The Society is now on the internet http://indigo.stile.le.ac.uk/~lah-soc/ Published by the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society, The Guildhall, Leicester, LE1 5FQ. Copyright © The Society and the individual authors ISSN 0024-0664 Leicestershire Historian Vol 4 No 4 1996 Contents Editorial 2 Farewell to the Leicestershire Local History Council Mary Mason 3 The Origins of Leicester's Market-Place: an archaeological perspective Paul Courtney 5 Local History on the internet 16 Letters from America Janette Shepherd 17 The oldest firm of hosiery manufacturers in Leicester: the early history of Wolsey David L.Wykes 20 The early years of steam power in Leicestershire Marilyn Palmer and Peter Neaverson 30 Recent books edited by Helen Edwards 45 Contributors 63 Cover: The north-west prospect of the Corn Market in Leicester in 1745. Engraving published by T. Bateman (Leicestershire Museums, Arts and Records Service). Editorial Although the Leicestershire Historian is now published by the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society it has been decided for this issue to retain the format established over the years by the former editor Dr J Goodacre. Changes are likely in the future, but the Society is committed to maintaining the high standard previously set by Dr Goodacre. We have, therefore, retained the two sections which have been a current feature of previous issues. The first contains a variety of articles relating to the county's local history and the second is devoted to recent local history publications. I am greatly indebted to Helen Edwards for managing to persuade people to review a large number of books in a relatively short period of time and to Aubrey Stevenson for providing us with the original list of publications. We have decided to list all publications known to us which have appeared since the last edition of the Leicestershire Historian. Some have detailed reviews, others a statement of the contents, whilst some are just listed. It is intended to produce each year as complete a list as possible of all works published which are relevant to the study of Leicestershire's past. Publications for review should be sent to the Honorary Secretary of the Society at the Guildhall and clearly marked for the Leicestershire Historian. The first section is longer than usual and therefore the whole volume contains more pages than previous editions. I am delighted to have persuaded Dr Paul Courtney to write about urban market places as this is a topic which has received little attention in the past and which has archaeological potential, as Dr Courtney illustrates with examples from Europe. Janette Shepherd, from Leicestershire County Record Office, contributes a piece on a series of letters written in America and sent to Theddingworth. We hope to have a regular feature from the County Record Office and I am indebted to the staff for their help and forbearance. Dr David Wykes has written about one of Leicester's best known hosiery manufacturers, Wolsey, and traces the development of the firm from the eighteenth century. Industrial archaeology has not featured to any great extent in the pages of this journal and I am particularly pleased that Dr Marilyn Palmer and Peter Neaverson have written a paper on the early years of steam power in the county. Considerable changes are likely to take place over the next couple of decades in the way in which scholarly information is distributed. Already the Council for British Archaeology has set up an electronic journal on the World Wide Web and the British Association for Local History has pages on the internet which I have referred to on page 16. We may well decide, with authors' permission, to put some of the Leicestershire Historian on the internet. Likewise the index to the Society's Transactions, when completed, might appear in different forms including CD ROM or the WWW. We intend to increase the number of pages in future editions and are therefore looking for articles. In particular we would like to receive snippets which could serve as page fillers! Do please contact the acting editor if you have an idea for an article or page-filler. Alan Me Whirr, Acting Editor Farewell to the Leicestershire Local History Council Mary Mason (Former chairman and Vice-President) It is with a certain amount of sadness that one learns of the demise of the Leicestershire Local History Council, especially when I have been involved since its inception in 1966. The Council was formed under the auspices of the Leicestershire Rural Community Council with Professor W.G. Hoskins, its first President, and an impressive list ofVice-Presidents, many of whom were local dignitaries. Representatives from the University, the City Museums, the County Record Office, the Leicestershire Libraries, the Rural Community Council and their neighbour, the Federation of Women's Institutes served on the Executive Committee together with several erudite local historians and those amateurs whose expertise proved useful. It got off to a flying start with a lot of enthusiasm, professionalism and media publicity. Membership was open to both individuals and societies and over the years much was achieved in providing a local history interest for all and the formation of new societies. The Council existed 'to bring local history to the doorstep of all interested people in Leicester and Leicestershire' and this was manifest in lectures, exhibitions, conferences, sponsored competitions as well as Summer outings conducted by well-informed leaders. Christmas celebrations at the Guildhall in the early days were perhaps memorable for their refreshments as well as the event. The Council's Silver Jubilee in 1991 was another time for celebration and many well-known members gave their support. Weaving a shining thread through all its events was the annual publication of the Leicestershire Historian which had a wide circulation (including libraries in the USA and Australia) with its meticulously researched articles, book reviews and an updated list of all Leicestershire and Rutland local history societies. Its high standard of editorship has been maintained for many years by Dr John Goodacre; and it has been printed by Duplitype (offset) Limited under the care of Mr Frank Pocklington, the Council's last Chairman. Many well-known and eminent Leicester and Leicestershire people have been associated with the Council and to mention but a few is in no way to detract from those who gave their time and expertise, as well as opening their homes for fund-raising events. Two publications by the late Colonel Pen Lloyd, 'An Anecdote of Bygone Leicestershire and other stories', and 'The History of the Mysterious Papillon Hall' and the launch of Professor Hoskins's 'Shell Guide to Leicestershire' did much to promote the Council to the public. It was involved with the British Association for Local History and even fielded representatives to their Executive. The late Tony Stuart set everything in motion when organising Secretary of the Rural Community Council; Betty Dickson's indomitable encouragement was second to none: the late Colonel Martin gave much of his time in a very busy lifestyle, as did Dr Patrick Boylan. There are many others, and the endeavours of recent officers are to be commended.